Rotary kiln.



F. TSCHIRNER.

ROTARY KILN.

APPLICATION HLED MAY 18, 19l8.

Patented Jan.28,1919.

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F. TSCHIRNER.

ROTARY KILN.

APPLICATION FILED MAY I8. 1918.

1,292,928. Patented Jan. 28, 1919.

2 SHEETSSHEE|' 2.

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FFICE.

FREDERICK TSCHIRNER, OF NEWARK, NEW JERSEY.

ROTARY KILN.

To all wZwm itmag concern Be t known that I, FREDERICK TSCI-IIRNER,

a citizen of the United States, residing at Newark in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements 1n Rotary Kllns;

and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the lIlVQlltlOIl, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

The present invention relates to the conversion of the potassium content of glauconite into a water soluble state, although the apparatus is capable of being used for other purposes, for examples in the rendering soluble of the potassium content of other silicious materials.

In my copending application Serial Number 161,852, filed April 13, 1917, I have described and claimed an apparatus designed for the treatment of glauconite and similar silicious materials, said apparatus consisting essentially of a rotary kiln and a soaking pit connected to the lower end thereof, the soaking pit being provided with external heating means, and the present invention constitutes an improvement upon such apparatus.

The accompanying drawings illustrate one form of apparatus coming within the scope of the present invention and in said drawings, Figure 1 represents an end view of the preferred form of apparatus, F1g. 2 represents a section at right angles to Fig. 1, showing the rotary kiln 1n elevat1on, and showing a preferred form of soaklng pit 1n vertical section. Fig. 3 shows a modified form of construction of the bottom end of the soaking pit, and the parts 1n combination therewith.

In said drawings 1 represents a rotary kiln of the well known cement kiln type, in which a mixture, consisting for example of glauconite or greensand marl, sand lime or other form of calcium carbonate and common salt, is heated, for example by a flame introduced through the burner 2 to a temperature capable of initiating a reaction between said materials, for the liberatlon of the potassium compounds contained thereln, bv the conversion of the potassium content of the raw mix, into potassium chlorid. The material leaving the lower end of the rotary kiln drops into the chute 3, and then into the receptacle a, a gate 5 bemg pro- Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 28, 1919.

Application filed. May 18, 1918. Serial No. 235,383.

vided at the upper end of the chute 3 to separate this from the chute 6, and also to close the upper end of chute 4, thereby substantially closing the upper end of the compartment 7.

The operation of the kiln is continued until the compartment or receptacle 4 is substantially filled with calcined. material, which of course enters the compartment 4 at substantially the same temperature at which.

it leaves the lower end of the kiln 1. When the compartment 4 has been filled to the desired extent, the gate 5 is changed over to throw the material coming from the kiln through the chute 6 into the compartment 7. The material in the container 4 is then allowed to stand, with as little loss of heat as possible for a considerable time, after which the door 8 is opened by means of the handle 9, and the bulk of the material in the compartment 1 will then run out by gravity on to the conveyer 10 by which it is conveyed to suitable leaching apparatus, for the recovery of the potassium chlorid.

In order to prevent the material in the compartments l and 5 from cooling off too rapidly the walls of these containers are made of suitable heat-insulating material, and are preferably rather thick. It is ob vious that when the walls of the compartments 4 and 7 are cold to start with, the first charge run in will to some extent be cooled off by the cold walls, but-after the compartments have been charged and emptied a few times, the walls of the containers become heated up to a high temperature, so that the material in compartments 4 and 7 will cool off very little, even if allowed to stand for several hours.

After allowing the bulk of the material in the compartment l to fall on to the conveyer, the material in the bottom of the compartment 4: may be raked out on to this conveyer, after which the door 8 will again be closed and subsequently the gate 5 will be shifted over into the position shown in Fig. 1 so that the filling of the compartment 4: will again take place.

Instead of having two compartments only, obviously a larger number of compartments can be provided. In the operation, the compartments are filled to the desired extent with the material, the compartments then being closed up and the hot material therein is allowed to stand for a considerable time, for the completion of the reaction-initiated in the rotary kiln; and the dumping operation is performed shortly before the time when the compartment will again be needed for the reception of material from the kiln.

In a particular installation of apparatus, the filling of the one compartment requires about two hours, after which the compartment is closed up for an hour and a half, and the dumping of the compartment requires nearly half an hour, after which the filling of the compartment again is begun.

By keeping the doors 8 of the compart ments normally closed there is very little if any volatization of potassium chlorid in the compartments, and it will be observed that there is no flame or other heating means in contact with the material in the compartments 4 and 7, so that the material remaining in the compartments 4 and 7 is not subject to rapid currents of gases or air, or other influences which would tend to volatilize potassium chlorid.

In the modified form of construction illustrated in F ig. 3 the compartment 14 is shown, the upper part of which may be similar to the upper part of compartment 4, but the lower end of which is hopper-shaped as shown in 14, and the sliding gate 16 is provided at the bottom of this container, for allowing the material to drop on to conveyer 20, in a suitable trough 21, for conveyance to the leaching devices. The sliding gate 16 is provided with a handle 17, for

convenient operation thereof.

What I claim is 1. An apparatus for converting the potassium compounds of glauconite and similar substances into a water-soluble state, which comprises a rotary kiln, provided with heating means, a housing at the discharge end of said kiln connected to a plurality of unheated, heat-insulating storage receptacles capable of being closed against strong currents of gases, and means for passing the heat-treated material from the said. rotary kiln-to the desired one of such storage receptacles.

2. An inclined rotary kiln, a plurality of unheated storage receptacles at the lower end of said kiln, means for sealing up each of said storage receptacles against flame and strong gas currents, means for delivering calcined material from the lower end of said lkiln to one of such receptacles until the same is filled to the desired extent; and means then diverting the material from the kiln to another of such receptacles, while closing such filled receptacle, whereby the material in such filled receptacle is sealed from conents of the material thereby prevented, a

normally closed discharge opening to each of'said receptacles, and a conveyer located in proximity to said opening, for carrying the material therefrom to a place of further treatment.

In testimony whereof, I aflix my signature.

FREDERICK TSGHIRNER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. it. 

